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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoRendering courtesy of Heartland BankThe new Downtown branch of Heartland Bank will feature a colorful use of liquid-crystal displays wrapping around the building at 101 S. High St.

Heartland Bank was looking for “some pizazz” in its new Downtown branch.

And bank President Scott McComb believes he’s found it in a long-vacant building that’s also in
need of a little zing on the southwest corner of Capitol Square.

Town Square Limited, an affiliate of Arshot Investment Corp., purchased the 5,300-square-foot
building at 101 S. High St. in December for $465,000. For many years it was the site of a Cord
Camera store.

Heartland will buy the first floor and basement for $850,000 and plans to open a branch there in
September.

Renovations, including flashing liquid-crystal display boards, are intended to add some flair to
State and High streets, which McComb and Bill Schottenstein of Arshot call the gateway to Columbus
Commons and South High Street.

“That corner was a debacle and needed to be cleaned up,” Schottenstein said.

The renovations and improvements will start soon.

“There will be two 3-foot-high ticker boards on the lower part of the building that will wrap
around the building,” McComb said. “And then, a much larger one that will cover the second to
fourth floors with a wrap-around video mesh.”

The big LCD board will display the distinctive blue-and-white Heartland logo, as well as promote
Arshot projects, such as the SPARC racetrack under construction at the site of the former Cooper
Stadium.

“You can’t miss it,” McComb said of the planned display. Heartland’s Downtown branch at 65 E.
State St. is a bit hidden, he added. “We needed more of a visible space.”

The renovation plans have been approved by the Downtown Commission.

“It’s fabulous to have someone in there using that space,” said Steve Wittman, chairman of the
commission. “And when the (LCD) lights are on, it will add a lot of energy to the area.”

The building at 101 S. High has been vacant for about five years, Schottenstein said.

“Plenty of people have looked at buying it,” he said. “But because of its small size, they
couldn’t make sense of it as a stand-alone building.”

It only made financial sense, he added, “for the owner of the building next door to buy it ...
and that was us.”

Arshot affiliates own 107 and 109 S. High St., which serve as offices for Arshot as well as for
other tenants who lease space.

It took so long to finally buy the building, Schottenstein said, because “there had to be a
meeting of the minds on the price.”

The Arshot buildings at 107 and 109 S. High share elevators, restrooms and other amenities,
which adds up to more leasable space and lower overall costs. Similar convergences are planned for
the building at 101 S. High St.

“Our lease was up. We wanted to own and looked at other spaces around Capitol Square, but
nothing else has the amenities this one has,” McComb said. “(Schottenstein) takes on the risk of
the top three floors and the infrastructure improvements, so, while it’s not exactly a deal for us,
we paid a fair price.”

Schottenstein said he isn’t sure whether he will lease or sell the empty space on the top three
floors of the building.

“Scott is making a commitment to Downtown,” Schottenstein said. “He wasn’t interested in a
lease. He’s putting down his flag and saying, ‘We’ll be here for a long, long time.’ ”